All practice questions

The passage below is about the conservation of a local historic site. Read the passage and determine which word most precisely and clearly completes the sentence. What word should be written in the blank to maintain a formal, precise, and clear tone?

[1] In 1964, radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were using the Holmdel Horn Antenna in New Jersey to detect weak radio waves from the spaces between galaxies. [2] To their frustration, they kept detecting a persistent, low-frequency hum that came from all directions in the sky, day and night. [3] They thoroughly cleaned the antenna, even removing a pair of pigeons that had nested inside the horn and scrubbing away the birds' nesting debris. [4] Despite their efforts, the mysterious static remained. [5] Pigeons are common in suburban New Jersey and are known for their strong homing instincts. [6] Penzias and Wilson eventually realized that this static was not local interference at all, but rather the cosmic microwave background radiation—the ancient echo of the Big Bang.

The writer is considering deleting Sentence 5 from the paragraph. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?

Archaeologists studying the Nabataean empire have uncovered sophisticated water management systems in the desert. These systems—crucial for survival in the arid environment, allowed a thriving civilization to flourish.

Which of the following options is the correct punctuation for the bolded portion?

Passage Excerpt:
During the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in the 1930s, the US War Department lobbied for the bridge to be painted with yellow and black stripes to ensure visibility for passing military ships. However, consulting architect Irving Morrow disagreed. He argued that the steel primer coat—a vibrant, reddish-orange—blended with the surrounding landscape while remaining highly visible in the bay's frequent fog.

The writer wants to choose a phrase for the underlined portion that emphasizes how the color of the bridge harmonizes specifically with the natural, changing hues of the local terrain and water. Which choice best accomplishes this goal?

Given the algebraic expression $A = x - y \times z^2$, evaluate the expression for each of the following sets of values for $(x, y, z)$ and arrange the sets in order of their resulting values of $A$ from least to greatest.

The prime factorization of a positive integer $N$ is $2^a \times 3^b \times 5^c$, where $a$, $b$, and $c$ are positive integers. If $N$ has exactly $12$ distinct positive factors, what is the least possible value of $N$?

A writer is editing a passage about the Wright brothers' early aviation experiments and has drafted the following paragraph:

In the autumn of 1901, Wilbur and Orville Wright realized that existing aerodynamic data was highly inaccurate, threatening to stall their aviation experiments. To resolve this, they constructed a wind tunnel in their bicycle shop. [1] The tunnel was a simple wooden box, six feet long and sixteen inches square, equipped with a fan driven by a two-horsepower gasoline engine. Inside, they tested sheet-metal lift balances, which they fabricated out of bicycle spokes and scrap metal. Through these rigorous trials, they collected the precise data necessary to design their successful 1902 glider.

The writer is considering adding the following sentence at Point [1]:

'The brothers also sold and repaired bicycles to fund their aviation research.'

Should the writer make this addition at Point [1]?

Passage

Deep inside a sandstone mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen lies the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which houses millions of seed samples to safeguard global biodiversity. The facility is carved into a solid rock hillside, utilizing the surrounding permafrost to maintain a natural freezing environment. . Therefore, the facility still relies on additional electrical cooling units to lower the temperature to the optimal $-18^\circ\text{C}$ required for long-term seed viability.

Which of the following choices best replaces the underlined portion to create a logical and grammatically correct transition between the two sentences?

In $1928$, bacteriologist Alexander Fleming returned to his laboratory after a summer vacation and noticed something unusual in a discarded petri dish. A mold called *Penicillium notatum* had contaminated the dish, preventing the growth of surrounding staphylococci bacteria. Recognizing the significance of this occurrence, Fleming realized that the mold was producing a substance that could kill harmful pathogens. Although he published his findings, he did not have the resources to purify the active agent. Consequently, a couple of smart guys at Oxford University later finished the job, enabling the mass production of penicillin during World War II.

Which of the following choices best maintains the formal and objective tone established in the passage?

Urban heat islands develop when cities replace natural land cover with dense concentrations of pavement, buildings, and other surfaces that absorb and retain heat. To mitigate this effect, urban planners frequently advocate for the installation of green roofs. Because these vegetated spaces are covered in plants, they can lower surface temperatures by shading buildings and cooling the air through evapotranspiration.

Which choice most effectively minimizes redundancy while maintaining grammatical correctness?

What is the value of the expression $-|-15 + 7|$?

After living in the arid desert of Arizona for nearly a decade, the field researcher was accustomed with the extreme daytime temperatures and scarce water resources. Which choice best completes the sentence idiomatically?

Consider the passage below about a significant scientific discovery:

[1] In 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, a museum curator in South Africa, received a call from a local fisherman who had caught an unusual blue fish. [2] Recognizing its scientific importance, she contacted her colleague, chemistry professor and amateur ichthyologist J.L.B. Smith, to help identify it. [3] Unfortunately, due to the remote location and limited communication options of the era, Smith did not receive her letter for several weeks. [4] By the time he finally arrived to examine the specimen, it had already been taxidermied, making detailed internal analysis impossible. [5] Nevertheless, Smith immediately identified the creature as a coelacanth, a prehistoric fish thought to have gone extinct 66 million years ago.

The writer wants to insert this sentence into the paragraph:

"During this delay, the fish's soft tissues began to decay rapidly in the warm weather."

For the paragraph to remain coherent, where is the best position for this sentence?

Early motion pictures were recorded on cellulose nitrate film, a highly volatile medium that decays rapidly under standard conditions. To preserve these cultural artifacts, archivists must store them in specialized vaults with sub-freezing temperatures. Without these strict interventions, these irreplaceable historical records will inevitably succumb to degradation.

Which of the following choices best replaces the underlined portion of the passage?

To ward off predators, some species of beetles produce a toxic spray through a rapid chemical reaction in their glands, which is a defensive mechanism that currently at this time serves to deter attackers.

Which of the following choices best replaces the underlined portion of the sentence to ensure that the sentence is clear, grammatically correct, and free of redundancy?

Let $S$ be the set of all positive integers $n$ such that the least common multiple of $n$ and $40$ is $360$, and the greatest common divisor of $n$ and $100$ is a prime number. What is the sum of all possible values of $n$ in set $S$?

Preservationists working on the restoration of the historic theater discovered that the ornate plaster ceiling, though seemingly stable, was slowly and gradually deteriorating over a long period of time.

Which of the following is the best replacement for the underlined portion?

Although the curator hoped to display the rare Renaissance painting, the museum's security system was currently at this present moment inadequate.

Which of the following choices best represents the most concise and grammatically correct option for the underlined portion?

Tempering chocolate is a precise process that involves heating and cooling the liquid cacao to specific temperatures. This method aligns the fat crystals in the cocoa butter, which ensures the chocolate cools into a glossy, crisp shell. If the temperature is off by even a few degrees, the cocoa butter will separate, causing the chocolate to look dull and become soft. Bakers must follow these temperature guidelines carefully to achieve the desired texture.

Which choice is the most precise and contextually appropriate word for the bolded portion?

For decades, paleontologists believed that the coelacanth—a primitive, deep-sea fish—had gone extinct during the Late Cretaceous period. Therefore, in 1938, a museum curator in South Africa discovered a living specimen among a local fisherman's catch, challenging long-held assumptions about evolutionary history.

Which of the following choices best replaces the underlined portion to establish a logical transition?